Refereeing

Referee Development and Training

FFA supports the continuous professional development of all active match officials. The Australian Officiating Development Schedule (AODS) outlines the training programs and classifications of referees, referee assessors and referee instructors [or coaches].

All training programs except the two Laws of the Game training programs are accredited under the Australian Sports Commission’s (ASC) National Officiating Accreditation Scheme (NOAS).

FFA programs are the only officially approved courses for Australian match officials. They are available to all Member Federations and their FFA-affiliated referee organisations.

Most training program include Laws of the Game examinations (excluding Level 4 Referee and Level 3 Futsal Referee). These examinations include written and multiple choice questions and video incidents.

If you are interested in becoming a referee you can search for training programs in your local area through MyFootballClub.

Qualification and Revalidation

Graduates of FFA Referee, Assessor and Instructor courses receive a certificate and qualification at that level for a maximum of 4 years.

For example if accreditation is gained on 20 March 2014 then the accreditation expires on 31 December 2017.

Active officials who wish to revalidate their qualification need to meet specified minimum requirements during the life of their qualification.

FFA has documented these requirements in the AODS as well as FFA’s Laws of the Game publication. These specify the range of hours of active officiating, Laws of the Game examinations and other activities including on-field assessments that need to be undertaken.

Outdoor Referees

There are five outdoor Referee classifications and programs. All referees commence by undertaking the online Laws of the Game program – laws.myfootballclub.com.au.

The Laws of the Game program provides a basic introduction to the Laws of Football. Once you complete this course you can join a FFA-recognised referee organisation and undertake the Level 4 training program

Community level referees should then look at completing the Level 3 training program after a minimum of 12 month experience.

Referees wishing to officiate in senior and elite competitions can then progress to Level 2and Level 1 Referee training programs.

If you are a Level 3 referee you can undertake the Level 2 (Theory) course and then decide if you wish to undertake the practical assessments to gain the ‘full’ Level 2 Referee qualification.

From there you can continue your development by applying to undertake the Level 1 Referee training program.

The ‘full’ Level 2 and Level 1 Referee training programs both take a minimum of one season each to complete.

Futsal Referees

The Grassroots stream for Futsal referees are the Futsal Laws of the Game and Futsal Level 3 Referee training programs.

The Laws of the Game program combines classroom and pitch-based training and provides a basic introduction to the laws of Futsal. Once you complete this course you can join a FFA-recognised referee organisation and undertake the Level 3
Futsal referee training program.

Referee Assesors

There are three FFA Referee Assessor classifications. Referee assessors are basically coaches of referees. Each program is designed to develop the abilities of assessors to provide coaching advice to referees at various levels of Football.

The Level 3 Assessor program is aimed at people coaching referees of local junior, youth and adult football.

The Level 2 Assessor program is aimed at people coaching referees of higher levels of junior, youth and adult football.

The Level 1 Assessor is for Assessors who wish to coach match officials at all levels including senior and elite football.

Referee Instructors

There are two levels of FFA Referee Instructor classifications.
The programs are designed to provide training and education to presenters of training programs at all levels of Football.

The Level 3 program is designed to provide the tools and support to conduct Level 4 and Level 3 referee training programs for Zone, Associations or Branches.

The Level 2 program is designed to enhance the abilities of Level 3 Instructors to assist in the development of match officials at regional or Member Federation level.